Casino gets 3 preliminary offers for GreenYellow energy business – source

A logo of French retailer Casino is pictured outside a Casino supermarket in Nantes, France, July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

PARIS, June 7 (Reuters) – French retailer Casino (CASP.PA) has received three preliminary offers for its renewable-energy business GreenYellow, with bids around 1.5 billion euros ($1.60 billion) each, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

Macquarie (MQG.AX) I Squared Capital and Dutch company SHV had made preliminary offers as of June 2, the source said, adding that other potential bidders had asked for more time to put together a possible offer.

BFM TV earlier on Tuesday said GreenYellow had not attracted much interest from potential buyers in the French energy sector, hitting Casino shares in early trade.

They were down 5% at 16.85 euros by 1449 GMT.

Casino, which has embarked on a plan to sell non-core assets to cut debt, said last month that it had launched a process to sell GreenYellow, aiming to seal a potential deal by the end of the year.

GreenYellow, which produces low-cost electricity and helps reduce companies’ power consumption, said in February it had raised about 200 million euros to support future growth. read more

($1 = 0.9350 euros)

Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Editing by Silvia aloisi, Tasilo Hummmel and Jane Merriman

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